Land Rover headed for the hills of southern Vermont for this year’s versions of two of their trademark North American events. Both TReK and the Defender Trophy were held at The Equinox, where Land Rover has had an off-road driving Experience Centre since 1997.
TReK came back for its third modern iteration in 2022, once again featuring the Defender 110. This year, a hundred North American Land Rover dealers participated – ninety from the United States, and ten from Canada. Each dealer once again had their own customized 2023 Defender, kitted out with factory and aftermarket off-road gear.
The qualifying journey began at Land Rover’s North American headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey, with a journey across several states to The Equinox in Manchester, Vermont. After Regional Trials, eleven teams competed in the finals. The competitions, as usual, were a combination of physical and off-road trials, showcasing the capabilities of the Defender.
The winner – for the second year in a row – was Land Rover Rochester from New York. Second place went to Land Rover Los Angeles, while third was the Canadian entrants from Land Rover Calgary.
After TReK, The Equinox was handed over to the Defender Trophy, the second iteration of last year’s Land Rover Trophy. This year, competitors used the Defender 90 Trophy Edition, wrapped in Camel Trophy-esque yellow vinyl and kitted out for adventure. Fifteen two-person teams at a time competed in tasks similar to those at TReK, helped by expert instruction from Land Rover’s off-road instruction team.
Two winners will each participate in experiences in the UK next year, representing North America. Natasha Radwan and Jonathan Gunsur will compete in the Classic V8 Trophy Works Experience next year, where they will join rest-of-world Land Rover owners who purchased V8-repowered rebuilds of classical Defenders. (Alas, due to the strong arm of the law, these were not available in North America.) Charles and Patrick Miller, brothers from Boston, Massachusetts, will participate in the Bowler Rally Experience, driving new Defenders kitted out by Land Rover’s in-house racing outfitter Bowler.
The participants were joined by some of Land Rover’s athlete ambassadors, retired NHL player Brooks Laich and US Ski Hall of Famer Chris Davenport, who are developing content based on the event for Outside magazine. Look out later in November on Outside’s digital channels for more.
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